José Maceda’s Cassettes 100 was re-staged as part of the exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969–1989). It was first presented at the Cultural Center of the Philippines in 1971, and engaged 100 participants from diverse groups in the local community. The Singapore premiere of this 30-minute sound happening was held at the Gallery on 23 November 2019. 1 minute read, 30 minute watch.

Explore our special exhibition Ever Present–even after it has closed–with our audio tour. 1 minute read, 28 minute listen.

While the Gallery spaces are temporarily closed, Perspectives Magazine continues to bring art to you and your family. 1 minute read.

A happy New Year to readers of Perspectives Magazine.
2 minute read.

In these challenging times, Perspectives Magazine's Editorial team hopes our readers find some respite. 1 minute read.

Explore our exhibitions–even after they have closed–with our audio and virtual tours. 1 minute read, 54 minute listen.

Wishing readers of Perspectives Magazine a happy new year. 2 minute read.

In this post, Vanini Belarmino (Assistant Director, Programmes) shares about her trip to the studio of Aung Ko and Nge Lay, the husband and wife artist duo featured in Gallery Children’s Biennale 2019, where she learned about the inspirations behind their installation The Other Wall, and the careful process of transforming their treasured childhood memories and traditions of Myanmar into a beautiful work of art.

Tropical Fruits (1969) is the largest known still life by Georgette Chen. With fruits in baskets, laid out on the table, and hanging from the ceiling, the work is an experiment in compositional techniques. Get a closer look at Chen’s works and find out how her artistic practice evolved over her decades-long career with our exhibition catalogue and our new video series, "At the Conservator’s Bench". 4 minute read.

According to traditional beliefs, depictions of the evil eye could ward away a malevolent gaze. Curator Cheng Jia Yun explains how Philippine artist Pacita Abad’s artwork is more than meets the eye. 2 minute read.

A happy New Year to readers of Perspectives Magazine. 2 minute read.

Wishing our readers a very happy new year!

Singapore artist Liu Kang depicted many bustling scenes of daily life outdoors. As curator Lim Shujuan dives into his paintings, share in the joy of friends picnicking, artists painting in the open or simply savouring in-season durians. 3 minute read.

In this conversation with Samsung Newsroom, Jason Ong (Director, Partnership Development, National Gallery Singapore) shares more about the Gallery's partnership with the Samsung Art Store, and its commitment to making the museum's collection more accessible. 5 minute read.

Indonesian social realist artist Itji Tarmizi and his contemporaries are known as a “missing link” in Indonesia’s modern art history as little is known about their work. Gerald Sim (Intern, Curatorial and Research) digs deeper into Menyongsong Fajar (Watching the Sunrise), Itji’s monumental work of social realism, to unearth more about the artist and the time in which he lived and worked. 4 minute read.

This in-gallery talk by Syed Muhammad Hafiz (Assistant Curator, National Gallery Singapore) takes a closer look at one of the paintings in the Gallery’s UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, Kami Present, Ibu Pertiwi (Stand Guard for our Motherland) by Indonesian artist S. Sudjojono.

On first appearances, Village Scene is a lively and cheerful depiction of rural life. Yet, this harmonious-looking work is also a poignant reminder of a tumultuous time in Southeast Asia that ultimately led to a period of unimaginable tragedy in Cambodia. Roger Nelson looks into the painting's subject matter, style, and exhibition and publishing history to explore how it intersects with the Cold War and related conflicts. 17 minute read.

Now in UOB Southeast Asia Gallery 7, Industrial Century is one of artist Tan Lip Seng’s earliest photographs. Charmaine Toh shares more about this work featuring the Iron and Steel Mill in Jurong, a favourite subject of photographers in Singapore.

Take a walk with us through 7 highlights in the exhibition Lim Cheng Hoe: Painting Singapore to discover Lim's journey and deep relationship with the changing landscpae of Singapore.

Join this tour of 7 highlights in the exhibition Suddenly Turning Visible: Art and Architecture in Southeast Asia (1969–1989), a selection that traces the new approaches toward art and architecture that emerged in Bangkok, Manila and Singapore during a period of rapid modernization.
1 minute read, 14 minute listen.

While the Minimalism exhibition has closed, continue to learn about the works in the show with two audio tours now available on our newly-launched Soundcloud––including an alternative version featuring musings by 7 local creatives.

As a conceptual extension of his Ng Teng Fong Roof Garden Commission SEA STATE 9: proclamation garden, Singapore artist Charles Lim Yi Yong creates a series of podcasts to present alternative viewpoints, stories and soundscapes in the history of land reclamation in Singapore.

Zai Tang was the Resident Artist for Resonates With from July to September 2023. During his residency, Tang presented a series of performances created in response to "See Me See You: Early Video Installation of Southeast Asia," focusing a on different piece of music technology for each artist. In this article, he shares the inspiration for each of his performances, illuminating how they came to be. 12 minute read.

Although little known today, Sam Yoeun was one of the most prominent artists in Cambodia during the 1960s. A recent acquisition of his artworks now on display in the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery sheds new light on this fascinating figure.

Curator Seng Yu Jin shares more about Siti Adiyati’s Eceng Gondok Berbunga Emas (Water Hyacinth with Golden Roses), a work on display in the Awakenings exhibition that transforms the appearance of natural and man-made objects to question our notion of reality and what constitutes art.

In 1973, the Indonesian polymath and intellectual Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana (STA) presented his paper “The Place of Art in the Psychological, Social and Cultural Reconstruction of the Future. Calling for “a new avant-garde,” he positioned the artist as playing a critical part in building a post-Cold War future. He believed that the aesthetic experience was foundational to societies and culture was a representation of a value system, and that artmaking and appreciation created a a feedback loop between the individual and society. This article features select artworks from Singapore's National Collection that capture the cultural and regional zeitgeist from which STA’s ideas emerged, spotlighting other important artists and futurists. 10 minute read.

This essay shares life with an art book, installation, and a series of workshops, all part of a larger project realised during my time as the inaugural artist for the National Gallery Singapore’s Calm Room Creative Residency.